Portable electronic devices such as smart phones, tablets, notebooks and others, have become an everyday need in the way we communicate and interact with others. The frequent use of these devices may require a significant amount of power, which may easily deplete the batteries attached to these devices. Therefore, a user is frequently needed to plug in the device to a power source, and recharge such device. This may be inconvenient and troublesome if the user forgets to plug in or otherwise charge a device, the device may run out of power and be of no use to the user until the user is again able to charge the device.
There are many approaches in the literature that have tried to reduce the impact of the changing needs of portable electronic devices. In some cases the devices have rechargeable batteries. However, the aforementioned approach requires a user to carry around extra batteries, and also make sure that the extra set of batteries is charged. Solar-powered battery chargers are also known, however, solar cells are expensive, and a large array of solar cells may be required to charge a battery of any significant capacity. Other approaches involve a mat or pad that allows to charge a device without physically connecting a plug of the device, by using electromagnetic signals. In this case, the device still requires to be placed in a certain location for a period of time in order to be charged. Assuming a single source power transmission of a sound wave (SW) at lower frequencies travels further in air. Thus, the received power at a large distance from the sound transmitter is typically larger than the power received from radio frequency (RF) powered transmitter that decreases over longer distances.
However, to increase the power of the received sound signal, the transmission power is typically boosted. Assuming that the transmitted signal has an efficient reception at three centimeters from the SW transmitter, receiving the same signal power over a useful distance of three meters would entail boosting the transmitted power by 10,000×. Such power transmission is wasteful, as most of the energy would be transmitted and not received by the intended devices, it could be hazardous to living tissue, it would most likely interfere with most electronic devices in the immediate vicinity, and it may be dissipated as heat. However, a transducer such as a piezo electric device in the transmitter is capable of sending out a power sound wave at a lower frequency to excite the sensor of a receiver at greater distances to charge and electronic device without the same bad effects of increasing the power emission of a SW transmitter.
In yet another approach such as directional power transmission, it would generally require knowing the location of the device to be able to point the signal in the right direction to enhance the power transmission efficiency. However, even when the device is located, efficient transmission is not guaranteed due to reflections and interference of objects in the path or vicinity of the receiving device. Sound waves however offer several ways to enhance the power transmission that overcomes the problems with SW transmitters.
Therefore, a wireless sound power transmission method solving the aforementioned problems is desired.